The Legend

Monday, April 30, 2018

If you follow 90's inserts on eBay one of the more popular to chase are Pacific Cramer's Choice.

image stolen from eBay

At the time of production Pacific was an after thought so people forgot about these. Now they have become highly desirable chase cards for player collectors. Some of the earlier versions can fetch well north of $100.

Unfortunately the Pirates stunk around the time these cards were being produced so I don't have much to chase. To join in on the fun I have to rely on the modern doppelganger.

2013 Crown Royale Geno Smith Auto /5

Say what you want about this card, but its unique. I was happy to add it for around $10. I feel sorry for Griffey and Jeter collectors. All the fun cards are just so damn expensive for them. Seriously if you get time just look at completed auctions for Griffey and Jeter inserts from the late 90's.

Sunday, April 29, 2018

Bobbleheads were all the rage as stadium giveaways in the early 2000's. I remember people lining up at PNC Park hours before first pitch in order to secure one. Then it just kind of stopped. I'm not sure if this was just a Pirates thing, but people seemed to be suffering from bobblehead fatigue. I think a combination of the Pirates not having star personnel and the fact that they were doing close to double digit giveaways just wore everyone out. Most people don't want their third Zach Duke bobblehead.

Things started to pickup steam again once Andrew McCutchen became a bona fide superstar, but overall I thought a lot of the releases were either boring or just looked like shit.

The last couple of seasons things have started to turn for the better. The designs have become more intricate and they are using themes outside the baseball norm. Last season the Pirates made their most unique giveaway that I could remember. Yes that is Francisco Cervelli in a smoking jacket surrounded by roses. During the games the Pirates would play a segment where Cervelli would give dating advice. It was very cheesy, but everyone got a good laugh. It was fashioned after that segment.

Now obviously the look of this bobblehead alone makes it a unique piece but this one goes the extra mile. In the back their is a button if pressed starts playing Dean Martin's That's Amore! Pretty cool, right? I rarely utilize eBay to buy these type of things, but I had to have one.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Finally had some time to get through some non JBF mail today. Pretty excited about two cards that were unearthed. As many of you know I'm an unapologetic NOW supporter.

For the first two years the Pirates have been middle of the road in terms of cards produced which has made it a fairly easy set build. The most notable card produced happened to be card #1 in the NOW set (Francisco Liriano). I remember spending $30 on it and feeling ashamed. Now it can fetch about 10X that so it turned out to be a wise move.

This year the Pirates are setting a higher pace in terms of production. As of today they've had 6 produced. The above are the first I've received so far. I'm most excited about the Colin Moran card as it marks his first card as a Pirate (minus the Spring Training NOW card). It was a legit cool moment too as he blasted a Grand Slam in his first home at bat. Always refreshing when a non walk off NOW card is produced.

Thursday, April 26, 2018

So it has finally come to an end. Over the last several months Wes has been putting me through 15 rounds of crazy trade packages. I received the last installment on Monday. It was awe inspiring.

As some of you know Wes is going into blogging retirement and he used these 15 rounds as a final send off for his cardboard shenanigans. It was a wild ride.

For this last trade Wes went back to our roots and absolutely blew me away with tons of awesome cards.

Look at all that! My initial thought was I would just do a mega post, but it is just too much. I'm guessing over 100 auto/relic and at least 200 numbered cards. Pure insanity! Also that's 9 1/1's up front.

As cool as all those are, they can't hold a candle to what was in this box.

In typical Wes fashion I had to unlock a code to get it opened. The contents of the box were unbelievable. I know he let the cat out of the bag to a few people, but I'll be sure to do the grand reveal soon enough.

So my plan is to dedicate the better part of a week to my good pal JBF as kind of a blogging retirement party for him. My hope is to convince him to do one last post sharing some of his crazy plans he tried to get together for me. Some of them had me laughing almost to the point of tears. The man is dedicated to this craft.

I hope to start the posts early next week. Thanks for all the fun over the years Wes. Hope you enjoy seeing your destruction in scan form.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

The Pirates are a couple years removed from having Neil Walker on the active roster. Supposedly the Bucs had made an offer to keep him around, but the two sides could never come to terms. Kind of weird that Walker had to settle for so little this offseason, but I'm sure the Yankees didn't mind. Hard to believe that more teams weren't interested at one year 4 million. While never the most durable he has been crazy consistent over the past 7 years. 2-3 WAR players don't grow on trees.

2013 Topps Mini Neil Walker 1/1

I don't actively search for Walker cards these days. My collection has most of the rookies and key autographs. Most of my needs are parallels which I don't actively chase.

The card above sort of just fell into my lap. I was searching around for some trade bait and discovered a seller that was auctioning off a bunch numbered Topps mini cards. Turns out he had a 1/1 Platinum Walker. For $10.50 I was able to add it to my collection. While nothing special looks wise it is always fun to add a rare card for a good price.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

I knew I wanted to do a non Bucco version of Zippy's Blog Bat Around. After going through some cards I noticed that I had enough dual autos that I could give it a Pirate twist. The hard part was the pitching. Not many dual autos exist of the 70's Pirates so I had to rely on Gerrit Cole prospect cards. While the staff is weak, this offense can rake.

Monday, April 23, 2018

My collection has always leaned towards autographs over the years so this latest Blog Bat Around is right up my alley. I was chomping at the bit to get started when Zippy got things going, but was out of town all weekend. It has been fun to see everyone's take on the project while on the road. My attempt will only feature Bucco's since that is my bread and butter.

I decided to go with a full 25 man roster and some managers. Obviously some big names are lacking here such as Honus Wagner, Clemente and Paul Waner. Autographs of those guys can cost thousands. Thankfully the majority of Pirate greats have extensive auto catalogs.

The biggest weak spot for the Pirates over the years would be starting pitching. Many of the best played in the pre war era so autos are either scarce or non existent. Thankfully the Pirates had some relievers that revolutionized the position which more than made up for it.

GM - Neil Huntington

Managers - Danny Murtaugh, Chuck Tanner, Jim Leyland, Gene Lamont

C - Manny Sanguillen

1B - Willie Stargell

2B - Bill Mazeroski

SS - Dick Groat

3B - Richie Hebner

OF - Ralph Kiner

OF- Dave Parker

OF - Andrew Mccutchen

Bench 1 - Al Oliver

Bench 2 - Bill Madlock

Bench 3 - Jason Kendall

Bench 4 - Brian Giles

Bench 5 - Jason Bay

Bench 6 - Freddy Sanchez

SP (ACE) - Bob Walk

SP - John Candelaria

SP - Doug Drabek

SP - Gerrit Cole

SP- Rick Rhoden

SP - Vern Law

RP - Elroy Face

RP - Kent Tekulve

RP - Mark Melancon

RP - Joel Hanrahan

RP - Jason Grilli

Big thanks goes out to Zippy. If time allows I may attempt a non Pirates version as well. Had too much fun putting this one together.